Detroit’s Problems Imperil Mayor Young’s Long Reign

For 15 years, Detroit Mayor Coleman A. Young has been the unrivaled political master of the nation’s sixth-largest city--and one of the most powerful black politicians anywhere in America.

Young has held a virtual monopoly on Detroit politics since he was first elected in 1974, and his office has become a mandatory stop for virtually any Democrat seeking national office.

But as he readies his bid this year for an unprecedented fifth term, the 70-year-old Young’s future is far from secure.

Opinion polls find voters increasingly frustrated and angry by Young’s failure to turn around Detroit’s broken economy or to curb the city’s epidemic of drug-related crime. At the same time, Young has suffered an embarrassing string of political defeats over the past year, and a growing list of powerful black leaders--including some erstwhile Young allies--are preparing to take him on in next September’s nonpartisan primary election.

“I’ve become less and less inclined over the last few years to continue to support Young. . . . It’s time to make a change,” says Erma Henderson, the president of the Detroit City Council and the city’s top vote-getter, who recently announced she will challenge Young.

“I count myself as a friend of Coleman’s, but there is an extent to which the city could benefit from an infusion of new energy,” adds Kenneth Cockrel, an influential black attorney and former City Council member. Cockrel, who says he is seriously considering running against Young this year, insists: “There is a feeling abroad that new blood would give the city a shot in the arm.”

Few observers, however, expect Young, the only mayor in Detroit history to serve more than two terms, to go quietly. With a reported $4 million in his campaign war chest and a ready grass-roots organization, Young still commands a formidable political base and remains the man to beat in the race.

Still Seen as Pioneer

As the city’s first black mayor, he is still seen as a pioneering leader by many in Detroit’s black community, which now accounts for two-thirds of the city’s population. And, as a result, even black challengers to Young in the past have been branded tools of white interests by some of Young’s black supporters in this race-conscious city.

“Young is a living legend among black voters,” observes Jack Casey, a Detroit public relations executive and political analyst. “He never did get much support in the white community, but that vote is getting smaller and smaller in the city anyway.

“There is an undercurrent that says Young should step aside, and that shows an erosion in his support,” Casey adds. “But I think it would take a vote of no-confidence by many, many black voters to end his tenure, and I don’t see that happening.”

Recent Setbacks

Yet even Young supporters acknowledge that the mayor’s power has been threatened by a series of recent setbacks. Most notably, Young’s controversial proposal to bring casino gambling to the city as a way to revive Detroit’s devastated economy was soundly defeated in a 1988 referendum. The proposal led to a split between Young and a number of leading Baptist ministers, who are extremely influential in the city’s black community.

“There is a lot of unrest in the political arena in this city,” observes the Rev. James Holley, a popular black minister who fought Young on the casino issue. “There are a lot of unhappy people.”

Young was also hurt by his decision to endorse Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis instead of the Rev. Jesse Jackson in the state’s Democratic presidential caucuses last March. Jackson swept Detroit and won the caucuses; even Young’s own political operatives defected to Jackson. (Yet, while Jackson has already endorsed acting Mayor Eugene Sawyer in this year’s Chicago mayoral race, Jackson so far has not taken a stand for or against Young in the Detroit race.)

Meanwhile, in last November’s election, Young suffered another blow when a grass-roots slate of reformist candidates for the Detroit Board of Education swept out four Young-backed incumbents. Voters last year also rejected a Young-supported bond to finance further expansion of the city’s downtown civic center. Young’s critics charge he has focused too much of the city’s resources on downtown development at a time when many of Detroit’s neighborhoods have turned into urban wastelands.

“Young has gone for glitzy and expensive projects downtown while the neighborhoods are in a shambles,” complains Mel Ravitz, a City Council member who expects to support one of Young’s challengers.

Young suffered still more political and personal embarrassment in recent days after an ex-city staffer filed a paternity suit against him. In a case that has become the talk of Detroit, Annivory Calvert, who has just moved to California to become director of public works for the city of Fontana, claims she had a relationship with Young from 1980 to 1987 and that Young fathered her 6-year-old son.

Young has refused to comment on the paternity suit, but the case has further emboldened Young’s opponents to call for him to finally retire.

“The time for Coleman to step aside was a few years back,” adds City Clerk James Bradley, a longtime Young foe.

In fact, a January poll by the Detroit News found that more than half of the city’s voters believe Young should not seek reelection. At the same time, a poll in the Detroit Free Press found a virtual dead heat in a potential race between Young and Tom Barrow, a young black businessman who is expected to run against Young.

Yet aides say Young now relishes the prospect of a real race for a change--and Young also makes it quite clear that he expects to win.

When asked about the newspaper polls that suggest a close election, Young scolds reporters that it is far too early to predict the outcome.